Miami International welcomes 44-millionth passenger

Miami International Airport officials had reason to celebrate New Year’s Eve as they closed out the year by welcoming the 44-millionth passenger of 2015, shattering the record of 40.9 million set in 2014.

It was also an auspicious start for 2016. The airport logged another achievement when it set a new single-day passenger record of 159,217 on Jan. 2, surpassing the former high of 155,620 reached just two weeks prior on Dec. 19.

Final, audited 2015 statistics are due this month.

Without a doubt, Aviation Director Emilio T. González said this week, he expects the airport to remain on an upward trend in 2016, adding more international airlines and routes.

“These record-setting numbers were exclamation points on another amazing year at MIA,” he said. “Adding 3 million more passengers in 2015 means a huge influx of business revenue and job creation for our local tourism industry.”

Last week, officials said passenger traffic that far into the holiday season had flown well ahead of projections, with a 9.4% increase Dec. 21-30 from the same period in 2014.

The weekend before Christmas Day saw the airport’s three busiest single days of 2015, said Greg Chin, aviation communications director. He said the tally was 147,841 travelers Dec. 18, the short-lived single-day record of 155,620 on Dec. 19, and 147,856 Dec. 20.

On Dec. 22, the airport’s Skytrain was shut down after two cars left the tracks during an early-morning maintenance check. Since its opening in September 2010, the elevated peoplemover has been transporting up to 9,000 travelers hourly to and from four stations within mile-long Concourse D.